Of Great Heights
by Sarruby
Summary: During SAS training, Alex did yet another exercise. Well, almost.


AN: **It's after the matches in SAS training in Stormbreaker. **

**First person is from Wolf's point of view!** I thought I'd try something new. Though it feels weird to me- like you shouldn't say "I" so much. It's one of the most commonly spoken words in the English language- especially in America.

This fic is **hot-off-the-press**. Therefore, mistakes are likely abundant. Hope you don't mind.

And lastly, I'm alive! Enjoy!

* * *

"Haven't heard of this one?" the sergeant asked, glaring at one of the soldiers. Alex stood to attention at the very end; beside him, the rest of his unit. Wolf was eying the strange contraption before them with nothing short of wariness.

The night before, half of the SAS trainees put together a ladder of sorts; Alex had heard them. Now that Alex was standing beside the unusual construction, he could see it was no ordinary ladder.

The thing was b***** huge! It looked like a three-story building, and the rungs looked evenly spaced from where Alex stood, meaning that the top rungs were spaced further apart than the bottom ones. Snake glanced at Alex out of the corner of his eye. Alex noticed and redirected his attention to the sergeant quickly.

"The Americans used it to train their air patrol. For their troops, it was voluntary." He paused and swept his gaze across all the soldiers, lingering on Alex for a moment. "As I'm sure you've already guessed, each of you will be required to complete this task. It's called the _Confidence Climb_. You go up one side and down the other. Since I'm training Britain's elite, you should take three minutes to get up one side and down the other." He grinned maliciously. "Anyone who can't make it under five is binned."

Alex was tempted to ask what would become of those who couldn't make it in three but restrained himself. He'd just make sure he could make it.

The sergeant gave out more instructions: two would climb up by the supports in the ladder, and another person would start as soon as a climber reached the top and started down the middle. Thus, there could be up to four men on it at a time. As a safety precaution, there was a mat next to the tower on each side of the rungs.

_Fat lot of good that'll do_, thought Alex. The two mats would only catch someone who fell straight down from the middle. And with the wind, someone falling from the top might not even hit that. It was pretty thick, though.

"Up you go!" the sergeant shouted at the first pair. Alex didn't envy them. They started out quickly enough, but they were showing signs of fatigue about two-thirds of the way up. Alex could see why. As they got higher and higher, it became easier and easier to see how the rungs were spaced.

"And the rest of you," the sergeant suddenly announced, "can do group-push-ups while you wait. If you're in the climbers' units, sit-ups."

D***.

The dozen or so SAS soldiers dropped to the ground, Alex not included. The groups of four positioned their feet on each others' upper backs, forming a square. The leader in each unit barked out a number.

Wolf shouted, "One!" and K-Unit, supported entirely by their arms, moved down, then up.

Alex shuddered. Push-ups were hard enough without having another person on top of you.

"Cub!" Now the sergeant was talking to him. Alex faced him. Surely he didn't expect Alex to join the group-push-ups? "You can run and get me some water." He held out a metallic water bottle.

"Yes, sir." Alex darted off to the mess hall, throwing a quick glance behind him. He heard the sergeant add one more detail.

"Oh, and the group that does the fewest push-ups can have mess duty!"

* * *

That little brat. He was so obviously related so some higher-up. I'd bet anything he just wanted to see what boot-camp was like.

And now the sergeant was sucking up to some higher-up. Why else would he ask Cub to get _water_? That was a chore, not an exercise.

If anything, the sergeant's leniency confirmed my suspicions. I wanted him out of my unit, and out _now_. I'd be willing to do anything, and I'd been actively trying to get him binned.

When I shouted, "Fifty-three!", Cub returned. He was panting slightly; though I had to admit, he was certainly in shape. He'd kept up fairly well.

My attention was diverted when Fox hissed, "Go faster!" The other group was in the sixties already. The first climbers' entire unit was done, and they were in the twenties; the other groups were ahead of us. At this rate, we'd end up with mess duty.

Part of me wanted to get it, just so I could order Cub to scrub the floors. See what rich-boy thought of boot camp _then_. But more of me didn't want to pick up after the others or to piss off K-Unit members.

The numbers came faster- a _lot _faster. Cub was doing sit-ups, now, like the other men.

It felt like an eternity, but at last it was our unit's turn.

* * *

Alex's stomach hurt, but it wasn't half as bad as the survival course's strains. He watched Eagle, Fox, and then Snake scale the ladder. Snake had joined him in sit-ups, and Eagle and Fox were neck-and-neck on the way to the top.

It made sense. The faster K-Unit scaled the _Confidence Climb_, the less time other units would have to beat their whopping 309 push-ups.

The top-most rung was worrying Alex. It looked like it was more than three yards away from the next-highest one. Even the tallest soldiers had to jump at least a half-foot into the air to grab it; then they shimmied over the top, hung from the bar, and dropped. Most of them were jumping what looked like a foot to reach it.

Alex wasn't sure he could jump that high.

Nonetheless, Fox and Eagle reached the top quickly, shimmied over the top one-at-a-time, and dropped down. The sergeant shouted for Alex and Wolf to start. Alex began on the side where the wind hit.

It was fairly easy initially. The rungs were close- a foot, then a half foot more. Up close, Alex could see that the rungs were really two-by-fours- nothing special.

Wolf pulled ahead. Alex wasn't surprised. His small size made it more and more difficult to scale the increasing gaps.

About a third of the way up, Fox and Eagle passed him on their way down. Fox looked at him for a moment, an unreadable expression on his face, but quickly continued his downward journey. Wolf was two-thirds of the way.

Alex could feel the strain in his arms about halfway. Wolf had reached the top.

There was another thing Alex had noticed as he got higher and higher. The movement of other climbers on the ladder caused it to sway. The entire contraption was shuddering unpredictably. It was frightening. Alex could lose his grip at any second.

Somehow, _somehow_, Alex made it to the second-to-last rung. Wolf had slowed a bit at the very top. It was understandable- Wolf was one of the shorter men; scaling the top rung was no simple feat. Now he was nearing the bottom.

Carefully, Alex gripped his side of the ladder, stood, and extended an arm up. He had about two and a half feet to go. The last one had been a one-foot gap.

There was no way he'd make it by simply jumping.

"Hurry it up, Cub!" the sergeant shouted from below. "We're all waiting for you!"

Wolf was still on the ladder, though. Alex could feel it. Thankfully, he was near the bottom and causing it to jiggle only slightly.

How could he get over that bar? Something Ian told him once jumped out.

_It's called _parkour_, Alex_, Ian had said. _People try to get by things as fast as they can. They even scale walls twice their height._

Alex had asked him how. _They get a running start, then push off the wall to turn that running-motion into vertical motion. It's like that Mario game your friend has._

Now, Alex had to use that.

Carefully, he balanced to the middle of the second-to-last rung, desperately pretending that he was at school, trying to scale the lamppost on the sidewalk. He sprinted towards it, and ran up the side rung as far as he could. Then he jumped off the wall, facing the sky, to give himself a boost.

His arms wrapped around the top rung. He'd made it!

Scrabbling with his feet, Alex managed to sort of kick himself around the bar. Hanging from it once more, he readjusted his grip to clutch at the bar with just his hands then let his feet drop. Now he was hanging.

Without his hand to help space the gap, Alex had a good three feet to drop. But this was the easier part, surely; he could catch the next bar with his knees, and do the same thing until he could reach the gaps.

Alex twisted a bit and let go, planning to crouch momentarily on the beam to lessen the impact when he hung from his knees. But it didn't work.

At the bottom of the ladder, Wolf had just jumped off. The hard push was exaggerated where Alex was, and the bar he'd been aiming for moved. His toes glanced off it, and it hit his knees.

Alex was free-falling.

Suddenly, Ian was next to him, whispering in his ear over the rushing wind, telling him what to do. _The worst thing you can do if you're falling a long way is tense up. The impact will tear any tense muscles. You have to relax. _Like that was easy. But Alex did it anyway.

_You can't land on your feet- your legs will break from the strain, and your spine is still in danger. Of course, if the ground's hard you'll die. But if it's soft, try to land on your back, face-up, flat. Hitting the bottom face-on will force your head up and snap your neck. Hitting head-first is basically instant death._

_But remember, above all thing: relax._

That was what Alex did. The somewhat-squishy mat smashed into his backside like a concrete floor, he thought he heard Ian. _See? You made it_, the voice said.

Then the world went white, and he knew no more.

* * *

Finally, I'd be getting off the rickety wooden thing. It was terrible. With an almost-cheerful leap, I'd left it behind me.

I was just walking around to join the others when a loud "THUD" startled me.

Cub had just hit the mat. He'd actually _fallen_ off the ladder. At least he'd appeared competent before; now I wasn't so sure.

Rushing to his side, I knelt on the mat next to him. The sergeant appeared opposite me. Vaguely, I could see the other men ceasing their exercises now that no one was on the ladder.

"Cub?" I asked, in a calm voice. Just like we'd been trained.

His eyes were open, but they weren't moving. Was he dead? His body was utterly relaxed.

"Cub?" I waved my hand in front of his face, but he didn't even blink.

It was horrifying. I'd connected the dots- my zealous leap from the ladder had been mere seconds before Cub hit the mat. Had I just killed a schoolboy? Sure, I didn't like the spoiled child, but I didn't want him _dead_.

The sergeant reached out and closed his eyes. "Vitals?" he asked. It was more like an order.

Although Snake, our medic, had appeared next to the sergeant, I took the initiative. Listening for breath, pulse, temperature and blood pressure if you can.

"He's breathing, and his pulse is strong. Temperature seems normal." The relief was almost crushing, and I let my hand linger on his neck- his pulsing, _alive_ neck for a moment.

"Anything broken?" Now Snake stepped in, as did another medic I didn't know. They were experts at this stuff- I knew basics, so I stepped back, giving them more room. They manipulated and traced Cub's joints, looking for obviously broken bones. After a few minutes, they reported nothing obvious.

The sergeant accepted this information with a nod. "Take him to the infirmary. He's got a concussion."

"I'll do it," I blurted out, tacking on a hasty "sir".

"Hurry up, then. Snake, go with." Quickly, I lifted him up, like one would pick up their bride. It was easier because he was so small. We ran off.

It was near the infirmary that he woke up, eyes fluttering and unfocused. It was a good sign. Before Snake or I could ask him standard care questions, he muttered, "Ian?"

How had he known my name?

"Ian? Is that you?" His eyes focused. "Wolf?" he asked, confused.

Snake stepped in. "Hang on; slow down, Wolf. Cub, do you know who I am?"

"You're Snake, an SAS trainee. Why-" Cub cut off as he shifted, evidently causing himself a great deal of pain.

In a smooth, soothing voice, Snake crooned, "We're almost there. Where does it hurt?" It was almost scary how out-of-character he was acting.

"I fell thirty some feet. It hurts everywhere," he answered dryly.

"You'll definitely have bruises, Double-o-nothing," I popped in. He frowned. I didn't have to like him, even when he was hurt.

Cub was obviously still out of sorts. "You know, a nickname is often a sign of affection."

D*** him. I wouldn't deign to answer that. It was just as well that we entered the infirmary, where I laid him down to rest. In a bed, that is.

There was just one thing to check, now that tests had been run, confirming that Cub was nearly fine. He'd just be in here for a few hours, at most. Once Snake stepped out of the room, and the doctors were elsewhere, it was time. "Who's Ian?" Just to make sure.

Cub looked at me, expression unreadable but somehow mournful. "Dead."

At least it wasn't me. He couldn't really answer the question, but it was a relief nonetheless. Still, this wasn't familiar or comfortable territory. "Sorry to hear that."

"Don't be. He wouldn't've wanted your condolences, anyway." Wonder why.

"Good night, Double-o-nothing," I sneered. He was a rude, rich brat. I turned to leave "Don't wet the bed."

* * *

AN: **Thank you for reading! **This one is a bit less action-filled than others, but I thought you should see it. It's written, so why not?

Some neat info below.

**1.** The **_Confidence Climb_ is an actual training thing**! I learned about it from someone who went to boot camp- the Air Corps, I think? Anyway, he also mentioned that helicopters were used often because about a dozen trained men could exit it in about 4 seconds by using rock-climbing sorts of gear.

He also said you roll when you hit the ground from a parachute jump, or the impact will injure your legs.

... So maybe some of the stuff I've written is a bit unrealistic. _Maybe_.

**2.** The **wall-jump-trick is based off of _parkour_**. Wikipedia has a nice description: "[Parkour] is where participants jump, vault, and climb over obstacles in a fluid manner." (You might find other stunt ideas in that article! Hint, hint!)

**3.** The **group-push-ups are real**. I went indoor skydiving the other day, and there was a group of college-military-trainees-or-whatever-they-are waiting to get on. The were doing the group-push-ups. Scary, I know- how can anyone be so strong!

**4.** **Wolf isn't necessarily afraid of all heights**! In _Alex Rider: Stormbreaker_, on page 64: "But [Wolf] had a weak spot. Somehow he'd allowed this parachute jump to get to him and he was too scared to move."

Then in _Alex Rider: Scorpia_, when Alex remembers Wolf, he never explicitly says that Wolf was afraid of heights. He says that about Nile, but Wolf's fear of heights can be of jumping from heights! See the logic? Don't refute it! I'll further justify this, I think, in another one-shot. Or maybe make this a two-shot. Maybe.

If you read that Author Note... Thanks! It's really long!

**Review if you want- but please read my other stories!**


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